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| The Chain Migration "Threat" |
Last week, the State of the Union interrupted sitcoms. I find myself smack in the middle of the issues these days. One facet of my life involves immigration. Deeply. People, including Ms. Raqueline. One stateside Filipina tells my wife that I need to articulate my plans for her, as nothing is happening...and things should have happened now.
So she asked me, and I responded. She saw how I had already thought of specific things and how we might move forward when she finally arrives. That seemed to work for her. I can't really explain why it takes so long to myself, let alone others.
Fortunately, things change
quickly around here. We got an important
piece of good news last weekend. In
about 24 hours, things turned from a challenge to my efforts to just a little
bit of apprehension for her. This is going to happen.
VisaJourney
is a site for gringos like me, trying to bring the love of their life to the
U.S. It's important for a couple of reasons. First, it's the best source of information on immigration. Unfortunately, the rules and regulations are complex, confusing, and confounding. The explanations found on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website are useless, as well.
Second, it tells me I'm not alone.
One phenomenon of this situation is the number of those who do not connect the immigration rhetoric to my situation. So many people think that these decisions only affect MS-13 members and ISIS recruits.
Not the case. Everybody has to pay for this anti-immigrant frenzy, even a 4'11"-92-pound-Filipina-Roman-Catholic-mother-of-three. Here's a thumbnail sketch of a timeline. We're juuuust clearing the green after 13 months of marriage.
But they can come here and
stay while they're waiting, right?
Theoretically, this is true. to make this
happen, Congress built a workaround for just this situation--the K4 visa:
Here is one immigration site that said it well:
- You file that 130 form.
- You file a 129 form, pretending she’s your “fiance.”
- Once the 129 is approved, you slog through the K3 visa process.
- You attach the kids as “derivatives” to your fiance’s/wife’s visa.
- You pay $1140/ea. to adjust their status...but you won't need to do that.
- You never get the K3 visa.
- You never get the K4 visa.
Here is one immigration site that said it well:
In fiscal year 2016, the U.S. Department of State issued only 102 K3 visas as compared to 133,465 immigrant (IR1/CR1) visas for the spouses of U.S. citizens.
You may apply for the K3 visa, but you should also understand the likelihood of receiving one. It’s extraordinarily low. For the purposes of planning your move, it’s often easier to rely a more predicable [sic] process – the immigrant visa.
In total, the fees, travel, and assistance come to about $3,000, and it takes 10 months to get past Step One. VJ predicts another 182 days...after the 3 weeks or so it takes the National Visa Center to acknowledge we passed the And that's just my wife. There are three wonderful children, too. They all cost just as much and take just as long...or longer. As one poster on VisaJourney put it to someone else:
You would need to initiate the process for your stepchildren just like you did for your husband. If your husband and you are already married and the children are under 21, they would fall under IR-2 category. I would suggest you begin the process sooner than later, as wait times for approvals and interview dates are becoming longer and longer.
Time to arrival has doubled. USCIS is fee-funded, not taxpayer funded. The delay...isn't financial. USCIS is less than encouraging regarding the kids. Filipinos aren't popular immigrants in this system:
Some people are frustrated by illegal immigrants; it’s not like we make it easy to come here legally. Worse, the current talk focuses on cutting immigration--specifically "chain migration"--in half. So...FOUR years to get the kids here? It frustrates me to think about it. People are lying about this. I know it for a fact; I'm living with the consequences.
So let me just put this little certificate here. I’ll make it a point to come back here every once in a while and remember how good it felt to have some sort of progress. January 28th, 2018 was a great day. May there be more such days to come.
Some people are frustrated by illegal immigrants; it’s not like we make it easy to come here legally. Worse, the current talk focuses on cutting immigration--specifically "chain migration"--in half. So...FOUR years to get the kids here? It frustrates me to think about it. People are lying about this. I know it for a fact; I'm living with the consequences.
So let me just put this little certificate here. I’ll make it a point to come back here every once in a while and remember how good it felt to have some sort of progress. January 28th, 2018 was a great day. May there be more such days to come.
